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Saturday, May 9, 2009

SAINT JUST - Saint Just (1973) @wv

Hailing from Naples, Italy, Saint Just was initially the trio of singer Jane Sorrenti, guitarist/bassist/singer Antonio Verde, and saxophonist Robert Fix. They envisioned a much grander sound than they could create alone, and thus for their 1973 debut self-titled album, they brought in keyboardist Mario D'Amora, drummer/percussionist Antonio Esposito, and guitarist Gianni Guarracino. This lineup was evidently unstable, for by the time they recorded the La Casa Sul Lago album the following year, only Sorrenti and Verde remained, although Saint Just itself had expanded to a quintet. And even in this form, the group didn't remain on the scene long; not surprising considering the members were pulling in several different directions at once -- improvisational jazz, folk, and classical. Saint Just's two shortest numbers, the delicate "Dolci Momenti," and the folky, fairground flavored title track, wisely didn't mix and match their genres. On the rest of the album, however, the band created extended (each over six minutes long), segmented songs, which provided the space required to explore each style in turn. The epic, ten minute "Il Fiume Inondo'," for example, smoothly slips from classical into folk, then picks up speed and force spinning into improvisational jazz (with stunning work from D'Amora). There's a clean break before the band then launches into prog rock, with the electric guitars and organ now coming to the fore, before the piece returns to its classically styled opening. Each song seems to hold a single musical theme, which undergoes dramatic variations as the piece progresses, with Fix key to the improv jazz segments, and Verde and D'Amora to the classical/folk/prog sections, with Sorrenti adding another stylistic layer on top. On the highly experimental "Trieste Poeta di Corte," she even sallies forth into Yoko Ono territory. Extraordinarily deft arrangements hold the pieces together, allowing the band to sound like escapees from the Canterbury scene one minute and a top-notch jazz unit the next. However, with Fix's departure, and the arrival of a new group of musicians, Saint Just's sound would alter dramatically

5 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Thank you for Saint Just. I have a problem with track 4, (Una bambina) and track 5, (Triste Poeta Di Corte). Track 4 ends abruptly and Track 5 begins with a 'pop' sound 3 seconds into the track. I have never heard this album before, so I do not know if it was recorded this way or if there is a problem with the download. Or perhaps my decompression software is not working properly. I downloaded it twice but the results are the same. - Steve

Steve, you are absolutely right about track 4. It seams that 2 seconds at the end of the song are missing. Track 5 should be OK (no pop). However, this is not my rip and I have the same problem. I will try to find another version and UL the whole album again.Thanks, and sorry for the trouble.RA

Please, would you suggest a software able to treat WV format? I tried all conversions softwares I had on computer and none of them were capable of reading or translating WV format. Thanks. Thanks a lot for the good music you always post.